Remus awoke with a sense of immense well-being despite the fact that he was lying naked on the floor of the Potions classroom, his clothes scattered about him in such a way as to afford scant protection from the cold. He yawned and automatically began putting them on, then walked back to the Gryffindor Tower as in a trance, somehow managing to not be discovered by any of the staff on their nightly rounds.

Once in his dorm room, however, he was startled wide awake when set upon by two of his three roommates.

“Remus!”

“Merlin’s bum! You had us scared, mate!”

“We were just about to go look for you!”

“Um… I’m sorry,” he said, still somewhat befuddled. “I must have inhaled some of the Confusing Concoction’s vapours. I fell asleep in the classroom.”

James expelled his breath as though he’d been holding it in for hours — which, in fact, it felt like he had done.

“Why didn’t Slughorn wake you up?” he demanded. “We were worried sick that something had happened to you!”

“Or that your mum was sick and you had to go home again,” Sirius put in. “We thought about asking McGonagall, but she might’ve given us detentions for being out of bed after hours.”

“Yeah, she’s been a bit testy ever since I left that Screechsnap under her desk. By accident, of course,” James added with a straight face.

“‘Testy’! You’d think that Screechsnap had been a Venomus Tentacula,” Sirius rejoined.

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” Remus said after trying to sort out his hazy memories. “I think I fell asleep after the professor left. I was supposed to clean up… At least I did all right with my potion, though! I distinctly remember him saying it was good.”

“Well, that’s a relief! And that’s also the last time we let you pair up with Peter for Potions.”

“Hey!” came Peter’s voice from his bed, muffled somewhat by the covers.

“Well, neither of us are good at Potions,” Remus smiled wearily. “It probably would be better if we weren’t the only ones watching the cauldron.”

“I’ll look out for you, old mate,” Sirius said, placing an arm around the slightly shorter boy’s shoulders. “Seeing as how Potter fancies Peter!”

“Just because I shag him silly doesn’t mean I fancy him,” James grumbled, putting his Invisibility Cloak away. “By that reasoning, you should fancy half the girls here!”

“Much more than that, James!” Sirius laughed, already pulling Remus into bed with him. “And almost as many blokes! But I always come home to my Remus — don’t I, luv?”

Remus yawned and settled himself under the covers.

“Yeah. I guess so.”

With a sigh of resignation, James crawled back into Peter’s bed.

“We won’t get any sleep with those two going at it,” he said. “We might as well have another go, too!”

Sirius was obviously disappointed, but he smoothed back Remus’ hair tenderly, saying, “Of course you are! We’ll just save it for tomorrow, when you’re feeling fresh and can enjoy it more,” and lay down next to him. Remus felt his arms wrap around him and pull him close, then he fell into an exhausted, natural sleep almost immediately.

***

In the following days and weeks, Severus observed Slughorn with a sharp eye — especially when he gave detentions — and found that the seemingly innocuous old man was shagging multiple students after rendering them unconscious with a mysterious draught. His victims were usually quiet, rather shy boys who tended to write off any misgivings about their time in detention as tricks of their own fancy, or those not clever enough to have any misgivings at all. Severus shuddered to think that perhaps, if he had not been taught the basics of potions by his mother, he might have had opportunity to serve detention himself with the lecherous professor.

He also observed Remus with some anxiety, wondering if he would have any recollection of what had transpired between them that night. At first he was satisfied that the potion Slughorn had given the Gryffindor was working quite well and hoped to put the whole incident out of his mind; however, one day in Herbology class he happened to glance over at Remus, only to find the Gryffindor looking at him, and was startled to see him blush and turn away. It did not happen again, but that was because (he now came to realize) Remus was avoiding making eye contact with him — vigilantly, assiduously, and religiously. Severus was unnerved, wondering whether the other boy had retained some memory of their encounter, and if so, if he might not confide his suspicions to his fellow Gryffindors. Not having any means of confirming or allaying his fears, he decided to do the only thing he could: namely, to act so indifferently towards Remus that he could deny any accusations and place the burden of proof on his accusers’ shoulders.

While this plan worked well as long as he was in their presence (goaded by the fear of discovery, as well as his open and accepted hostility towards Sirius and James), his own mind would betray him at night; for often Severus would awaken to find himself wanking his male member desperately after a dream about that encounter with Remus. Having been his first experience as the perpetrator, the memory of it was branded indelibly into his mind and body, so that even if he hadn’t been dreaming about Remus, each morning his thoughts would turn to the Gryffindor as he tried to relieve himself of his male issue. Very soon the taciturn Slytherin found to his dismay that he could not even reach his climax without fantasizing about the other boy — his flesh, his skin, his hair — and, pressed by need, he had no choice but to surrender to his lustful fancies, imagining Remus pinned under him or impaling himself willingly on his manhood, gasping sweet, passionate nothings in his gentle voice. Severus despised himself for wanting the Gryffindor, but relented to his charms (at least in his imagination) with increasing frequency.

***

Unbeknownst to Severus, Remus was suffering in much the same way. While he believed that the vague images of being shagged by Severus were memories of a dream — especially since they had an uncertain, dream-like quality — he began to fantasize about the dark-haired boy more and more frequently. He blushed to think of it, but he had heard rumors (as such rumors tended to spread, even to different Houses) that Severus was well-endowed, and he couldn’t help but wonder what it would feel like to have his nether entrance penetrated by the Slytherin’s supposedly large male specimen. Sirius, while playfully attentive, often left him hungering for more, and that more manifested itself in the form of explicit and inadmissible daydreams, invariably with the dark-haired boy whom Sirius seemed to detest so.

Try as he might, Remus could not help glancing over at the Slytherin table during mealtimes or occasionally during the classes that they had together. But one time Severus caught him staring, and — blushing crimson with shame, despite the fact that the other boy couldn’t possibly know the lascivious thoughts he’d been thinking at that moment — he averted his eyes, vowing to never allow himself to be caught in such a (to his mind) compromising situation.

Thankfully, his friends were too busy nicking the thorns off of the Snargaluff plant that they were repotting to notice his discomfiture. Sirius, despite his many casual conquests, was jealously possessive of Remus; had he noticed the other boy’s brief exchange with his most hated Slytherin, the consequences would have been dire. James was the only other one that Sirius allowed to take pleasure in Remus’ body, but only because it was understood by all to be a purely physical activity — James was smitten by Lily, one of the few girls in the school who still resisted both James and Sirius’ advances, so his interest in Remus was limited to an occasional shag. And Sirius had immensely enjoyed the few times when they had both penetrated the smaller boy’s rear entrance, especially since Remus gasped and panted in exquisite ecstasy, clutching James’ shoulders and arching back against Sirius’ chest. Had Sirius known that his favorite partner’s love of being “filled up” was causing him to fantasize about the skinny, sallow-faced Slytherin, he would have hexed Severus into oblivion.

Remus, however, was beset by another troubling development which threatened his good standing as a student. His many absences were already a source of unending struggle, but his friends were faithful in taking notes when he was gone (although admittedly, only when he was gone) to help him catch up. When he was in his classes, he concentrated with all of his ability to learn the material so that the only gaps in his knowledge would be from his monthly indispositions. However, he found himself struggling to focus during Potions class. Not only was it a combined class with Slytherin, with a certain dark-haired boy who was already a source of distraction, but Remus came to feel a vague, unnamed sense of unease whenever he walked into the classroom. It was well-lit and cheerful, despite the many slimy and foreboding ingredients that lined one wall, so he could find no reason for his discomfort.

Professor Slughorn was also an interesting teacher, but Remus’ mental acuity seemed to blur every time he tried to focus on the professor, leaving him with only a woolly, indistinct impression of what the man had said. This led him, one day, to cut off the skin of the Dirigible Plum counterclockwise instead of clockwise, which Sirius did not notice since he was too busy making snide comments to James about a dour-faced Slytherin girl the next table over. When their finished potion congealed into a thick paste, rather than the soft goo that was required, Slughorn shook his head in dismay.

“And who, might I ask,” he said with a light sigh, indicating that he already had a good guess as to the culprit, “was the one in charge of cutting the Dirigible Plum?”

“I was, sir,” Remus answered, his heart sinking.

“Ah, yes, I was afraid of that,” Slughorn nodded. “It’s a shame that you weren’t listening to my directions at the beginning of class. Perhaps if you did not allow yourself to be distracted by your friends,” he added, with a significant look at James and Sirius, “you would do as well in my class as, apparently, you do in your other classes. Well, I must take five points off from Gryffindor for not paying attention—”

Sirius and James both groaned simultaneously, and the other members of their House glared at them.

“—or rather, five points each for Mr. Potter and Mr. Black, I think, since they were the ones who distracted you—” more groans “—and as for you, Mr. Lupin, I’ll expect you here tonight after dinner to try this potion again on your own.”

“Sir,” Sirius put in, “I’ll help him, since I was the one who distracted him!”

“No need for that, Mr. Black,” Slughorn replied smoothly. “I believe I’ve penalized you enough already with the points deducted. And besides, I believe Mr. Lupin does better work when you are not around to distract him, as you say.”

Defeated, Sirius started to pack up his things, and James patted Remus’ shoulder in commiseration. They did not see the smug smirk on the Potions professor’s face, although even if they had, they might have chalked it up to his satisfaction at penalizing Gryffindor. But Severus, watching Slughorn return to his desk, did not miss the gleam of anticipation in the lecherous man’s eyes.

***

Severus chose to hide behind the drapes in a shadowed corner of the Potions classroom to wait out the professor’s session with Remus. He had argued with himself about the dangers of seeking another encounter with the Gryffindor but, in the end, his better judgment had lost to his lust. The temptation of shagging the boy who now occupied his hormonal fantasies was too great to resist, and as he hid in the darkness, he assuaged his better judgment by promising to not budge from his hiding place until Slughorn had had his fill of the other boy and left the room.

“Ah, there you are, Mr. Lupin!” Slughorn eagerly greeted, although he had waited only a minute for his student to follow him there from the dining hall. “Ready to make up your assignment, I hope?”

“Yes, sir,” Remus answered, his voice quivering only slightly.

“I have a little something for you — a Wit-Sharpening Potion of sorts,” the old man said, holding out a vial. “It should help you to remember what I tell you at key points of the process, rather like an invisible string tied to the ingredients, so you won’t bungle them this time! Go on, drink up.”

“But… is it all right, Professor? I mean, isn’t it a bit like… cheating?”

“Nonsense, my dear boy! It’s a tool to help you learn. And besides, this isn’t a test — I merely want to see that you are capable of brewing this potion on your own, provided that your friends aren’t distracting you.”

Remus drank the potion then, as both Slughorn and Severus watched with greedy, lust-filled eyes.

“Drink all of it, my boy — there you are!” the professor said with glee, rubbing his hands together. “Now, for this potion, it’s best if you take off all of your robes and clothes — so they don’t get soiled by the ingredients, you know.”

At his teacher’s matter-of-fact statement, Remus obediently began undressing himself, while Slughorn also opened up the front of his robes and trousers, taking out his small but stiff male member.

“Very good! Now I need you to bend over this desk and place your hands on either side. That’s right, make sure you have a firm grip, and hang on tightly! This may hurt a little, but don’t worry — you won’t remember a thing…”

So saying, the man inserted himself into the boy’s tight nether opening and began to shag him. At every thrust, Remus groaned and the desk creaked under the added weight, but the boy did not resist even when Slughorn’s stubby fingers reached around to grab his male appendage and pull on it roughly to get a response. Remus arched his back up as the man’s ministrations struck a chord within his body. Panting for breath, he wordlessly endured the furious onslaught of Slughorn’s lust while his own male member leaked milky drops on the floor.

As the professor’s movements became more frenzied, Severus’ hand also moved more quickly around his large manhood, and when the man started to cry out in ecstasy, it was all Severus could do to reign in his need to shout and proclaim his release. He bit a fold of the drapes to contain his voice but allowed his issue to spatter onto the fabric. Slughorn was too taken with his own climax to notice any movement in the dark corner.

“Very good… Very good indeed, Mr. Lupin,” the man rasped. “Now, I need you to turn around and lean against the desk, then lie back on it with your bum hanging off of the edge. Wriggle back a little… There you are! And I’ll just take your feet for you…”

Severus had been hoping to get his turn with Remus after the professor’s first shag, but apparently, the old man had enough vitality in him for another round. Disappointed, yet impressed in spite of himself, he watched as Slughorn bent Remus’ legs back against his chest and entered him from a new angle.

“Ah! Mr. Lupin, do you think you might be able to… tighten your hold on me? Yes, yes!Oh!Very good… You are a very… talented young man, Mr. Lupin…”

Severus was left to gape and wonder at Remus’ talents while the insatiable Slughorn raped the boy repeatedly, the next time on the floor in front of the fireplace — the same position in which he had found the two before. After infusing the Gryffindor with a final burst of ejaculate, the Potions professor finally Evanesco-ed his filth and instructed Remus to forget everything that had just happened to only recall having made a perfect elixir. Then, after adjusting his clothes, Slughorn left the classroom.

Remus slowly pulled on his underwear, then sat down to catch his breath, his eyes glazed and unseeing. Severus stepped out from behind the drapes, his manhood swollen and fully erect.

“Hello, Lupin,” he said, somewhat breathless with excitement. “I want you to get down on your hands and knees!”